It was said that a couple of bothers were planning on going hunting in the mountain.The elders said to them,”It is late autumn and winter is coming.If the pathway is blocked by the snowstorm,you will not find the way to go back.”
As the saying goes,”Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers.”In spite of the persuasion of the elders,the brothers went into the mountain with their bows and arrows as well as fur coating and solid food.

Several day had passed and they hunted a lot of wild animals.But it suddenly blew hard and snowed in great flakes one afternoon.It had snowed for two days and all the pathways were covered with snow.As a result the brothers couldn’t find way going back.They had to take shelter from snowstorm in a cave.There were several big tress in the cave.One of them had been dead and it had been rotten in the center.So the brothers emptied the center of the tree and made a big hole.They made a fire in the hole and roasted the wild animals and warm themselves as well.So they had a residence.

Hence,they went hunting in fine day.In order to save food,they dug the root of weeds as well.They found a kind of vine of which the root was of the arm-thick and somewhat like a man.It tasted sweet.The older brother said,”It’s sure that the root will benefit our health.”

So,they dug a lot of the roots and pile them in the hole.After taking the root,they felt full of energy.But it caused noes bleeding if having too many of the roots.So they just had a little everyday.

The brothers spent the winter in the cave.It was the beginning of spring and snow thawed.So the brothers went back with a lot of quarries.The villagers though that the brother had starved to death but brothers came back and were stronger than before.

“What have you had in the mountain that make you stronger than before?”the villagers asked them.The brothers showed them the roots.”Ah,isn’t it like a man”the villagers were very curious.

Since then people called it”Ren-shen”,i.e.,ginseng.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *